


Straight as a Board

by thealphagate_archivist



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-23
Updated: 2006-03-23
Packaged: 2019-02-02 18:27:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12731910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thealphagate_archivist/pseuds/thealphagate_archivist
Summary: Jack is put in charge of guarding Daniel at a conference after the Tok'ra warn of an Ashrak after him.





	Straight as a Board

**Author's Note:**

> Note from the archivists: this story was originally archived at [The Alpha Gate](https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Alpha_Gate), a Stargate SG-1 archive, which began migration to the AO3 in 2017 when its hosting software, eFiction, was no longer receiving support. To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. We e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are this creator and it hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Alpha Gate collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/thealphagate).

Klaxons sounded over Stargate Command. An unannounced traveler was arriving through the Stargate!

Major Samantha Carter read the identification code. "Sir, it's the Tok'ra."

"Open the iris."

"Aw, what do they want now? Haven't we saved their butts enough this year?"

"Colonel, the Tok'ra are our allies." Hammond flashed a fatherly glare at his 2-I-C. Really. The guy could hold a grudge forever! It had been two years since Freya had made that pass at O'Neill and accused him of being a planted Goa'uld assassin.

"Dad!"

"Sam!" Jacob hugged his daughter, then greeted the rest of his friends.

"What brings you to us today, Jake?"

"I'm here with a warning." The ex-general turned towards Daniel. "Daniel, our operatives found out just recently that Apophis has commissioned an Ashrak to take you out. I'm sorry."

Blue eyes blinked in surprise. "I thought it was prohibitively expensive to hire an Ashrak, and the Goa'uld never do it except to go after the highest ranking Tok'ra like Selmak and Gursha."

Jacob turned into Selmak. "Usually that is true. But your role in defeating Apophis and Heur'ur this last time apparently elevated you to a level with us as a danger to Apophis. You know too much about the System Lords in general, which contributed to Apophis' last defeat. He has the rest of the System Lords' blessing and financial assistance in this commission. You've become quite a thorn in their sides, Daniel."

Instinctively Daniel turned towards Jack. The older man's brown eyes hardened, and he patted his archeologist on the shoulder.

"That Ashrak- whatever will have to come through me to get to you, Daniel. And I make a much better wall than a door."

"Through me as well, DanielJackson." Teal'c added. At the same time, Sam said, "Ditto here, Daniel."

The archeologist smiled at his friends, no, his family. "Thanks. That makes me feel a lot better." He turned to Jacob. "Did your operative have any idea when or where the assassin will strike?"

"No. The Ashrak specialize in infiltration to get close to their targets. The SGC should be safe, since you all implemented the scans at the entrance areas. But I wouldn't be surprised if he or she is already here on Earth waiting for an opportunity to get to you off base, Daniel."

Jack said, "That conference, Daniel. You'll be really vulnerable there."

"What conference?"

"I have been contacted by the International Order of Archeological Linguists. They're holding a conference in Los Angeles in three weeks and have invited me to come and talk on the similarities in ancient cunieformic languages. I'd planned to attend for the entire conference, which lasts four days."

"I guess you're going to have to cancel, Daniel. It'll be too risky for you to go."

Daniel got that familiar stubborn look on his handsome face at Jack's words, causing the Colonel's stomach to drop in anxiety. It was the look which announced to all, "I am going to not do as anyone suggests or what makes sense, because I'm a stubborn mass of Colonel-irritant who doesn't have to follow orders because I'm not in the military."

"I'm going, Jack."

"Dr. Jackson, I'm not sure that would be a good idea..."

Daniel turned to General Hammond. "Respectfully, General, but I am not in the military. I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself."

_Yah, right. Since when? This is from the guy who's died five times now?_ Jack thought.

Hammond tried another tack. "You are too valuable to this program for us to let you go without protection, Dr. Jackson. I propose to assign a bodyguard to accompany you."

Colonel Makepeace, USMC, who had been there from the beginning of Jacob's arrival, spoke up. "I'll do it, General Hammond. From how dangerous the last Ashrak was, it'll take at least a Marine to keep Dr. Jackson safe." Makepeace's blue eyes slid over to his rival Colonel, then back to General Hammond.

_Yah, right, you've been wanting to keep Dr. Jackson, period, for a long time, Colonel Jarhead. There is no way in hell I'll let you spend four days alone in a hotel room with him, you damn predator!_ Jack almost growled with his anger at the Marine. It was one thing for Makepeace to try his games with Jack, and quite another to try them with the innocent Daniel.

"General, no disrespect to Colonel Makepeace meant, but he would be, ah, rather conspicuous at a meeting of academics. I have a Masters degree in ancient European languages, so I believe that I would fit in well and maintain a low profile at a conference of this type, and be able to keep Dr. Jackson safe as well." Major Paul Davis spoke up, apparently oblivious of, or disregarding, the killer looks he was the recipient of from the two bird Colonels and the Jaffa in the group. 

_Yah, like a black widow guarding a fly. You'd like to fit right inside Daniel's bed, wouldn't you, you frigging pencil pusher! If Hammond okays you to go, you're dead meat, Davis!_

"I will go and guard DanielJackson, General Hammond. I will be able to sense the presence of a Goa'uld, and act accordingly."

_Like no one could tell you were out of place, big guy? You'd stick out like a sore thumb, all six foot seven inches of muscles and a gold tattoo as well, among all those geeks!_

Jack found himself speaking up before he knew what he was going to say. "General, Teal'c and Makepeace would be way too obvious, like Major Davis said. But Davis isn't trained in Special Forces, no matter how many degrees he has. I'll go as Daniel's military liaison, and protect him at the same time."

"No offense, Colonel, but you would be as obvious as Colonel Makepeace and Teal'c."

Jack smiled at Major Davis, causing the Major to gulp nervously. "I did go to college at the dawn of mankind, Davis, and managed in between playing college sports to get a degree in medieval studies. I also speak several languages."

Daniel's eyes got bigger all of a sudden. Wow! The thought of Jack speaking even one other language was causing the blood to very rapidly leave Daniel's brain for his nether regions. "Jack? What languages?" _Breathe, Daniel, Breathe!_

"Latin, Ancient Greek, French, Gaelic, and Kurdish." Twinkling brown eyes caught blue ones. _Surprised, Dr. Daniel, that I can do a few things too?_

"General, I'm used to having Jack around, and he can legitimately act as my military liaison and colleague, without getting under my feet too much. I'll take him and only him along, if you insist." _WOOF! Think I can get him to talk to me in Ancient Greek or Gaelic? WOOF. Down Daniel. Remember, Jack's straight as a board, as a board!_

"Then it's settled. Colonel, I'll have my assistant sign you up as a participant for this conference, and you'll watch Dr. Jackson's six at the same time. Hopefully you'll be able to identify the Ashrak and take him or her out. I have complete faith in your ability to do so."

_Eat your heart out, jarhead and pencil-neck! He's MINE! Touch him and you die. I'll spend the entire time gladly watching Daniel's six, as hot as it is. Too bad the man's straight as a board, or I'd do a lot more than watch it._

Jack smiled, rocking back on his heels. "Well, I guess I'd better brush up on my Gaelic, eh Daniel?" _Get under your feet? Just wait, kiddo, we'll see who'll be getting under who._

The archeologist blushed. "Um, I guess so, Jack." _WOOF! Straight as a board, Daniel. Straight as a board. Straight..._

Jack walked into the hotel room he and Daniel were going to share. At first the archeologist had argued about the necessity of rooming together.

"Jack, I think I'll be safe alone in a hotel room in Los Angeles. This isn't Iraq or Chulak, you know."

"Oh, yah? Well, for your information Dr. Innocent Jackson, I was once almost caught and tortured by terrorists in a hotel room in the U.S. This Ashrak will be even more resourceful, since he or she has two brains to call upon for plans to get your ass. You've got yourself a roomie, and that's that."

_Five days in the same room with Jack? God help me. It'll take a willpower of steel to stay away from him. Your mantra: Straight as a board, Daniel._

The room was typical for a moderately expensive hotel. Jack checked out the perimeter and entry points into the place with his eyes as he placed his bag on one of the chairs.

"Uh, Jack?"

"What?"

"I hate to bother you when you're threat assessing, but did you notice the bed?"

The Colonel glanced down at the California King-sized bed. "What's wrong with it?"

"Well, it's a bed, as in a singular noun, instead of beds, as in two doubles, which is what we ordered."

"They were out of the double rooms, so they upgraded us to a suite, but we only have one bed. I'm assuming you did want the capacity to make as much coffee as you can drink In the kitchenette, don't you? Besides, we've been closer together when we share a tent on our missions. That bed is big enough for the entire command staff at the SGC to sleep with room to spare." _Whoa! Gotta get that image of Hammond and Teal'c in jammies snuggling with me between them like a body pillow out of my head, Ahhhh! Scared myself there._

Daniel just stared at Jack's clueless face. _Straight as a board. Straight as a fucking board, damnit! I hope to god I don't end up humping his leg in my sleep, or something embarrassing like that._

"All right. I'm going to take a shower and get ready for the opening party."

Hearing Daniel's nervousness at facing colleagues who had ridiculed and attempted to destroy his career in his voice, Jack said gently, "They did request your presence here, Daniel. Even though a few asses tried to get you trashed, others do recognize you for your expertise in your fields. You'll blow them away, you know."

Daniel smiled at Jack. "Thanks for that, Jack. But I can't tell these people about anything that I've done for the last five years. I doubt if I could blow even a feather away."

"I have faith in you, big guy"

Daniel's smile got bigger, and he started stripping for the shower. Normally he was shy about nudity in front of others. But he and Jack had shared the communal showers so often at the SGC that it seemed rather silly to be shy in front of him now. He pulled off his shirt and t-shirt, then started unzipping his fly.

Surprisingly enough, it was Jack who turned away to give Daniel a semblance of privacy. He really did it so that Daniel wouldn't see the blush come to the Colonel's cheeks, or the hunger in his eyes as he glimpsed his friend's muscular chest.

Daniel was towling his hair dry when he came out of the bathroom later. Jack went in to clean himself up and to dress, and Daniel started putting on the new suit he had bought for the conference. 

He turned from tying his tie at the sound of Jack opening the bathroom door. Suddenly his mouth dropped open as he stared at Colonel Jonathan O'Neill, U.S. Air Force Special Forces, standing there in his "A" dress blues, all of his medals across the left of his broad chest, and with his cap pulled down low over his eyes. It was too bad that the gathering was indoors, because he couldn't wear his shades as well. Still, it was probably better that he didn't wear them. Daniel knew that if the Colonel did have his sunglasses on along with the class A's, then Jack might just find himself ravished by an out-of-control archeologist, who also was a closet fly-boy groupie. Daniel _really_ liked the way Jack looked in his shades and class A's.

"You're going to catch bugs in your mouth if you don't close it, Daniel."

"Uh, your class 'A's', Jack? Won't it be like sandblasting academic soupcrackers?" _You've already sandblasted me, damnit, and you didn't do a damn thing except stand there in those._

O'Neill shrugged. "If any of these brainiacs try to give you stuff, I figure I should look the part of the big, bad, military dude to scare 'em off."

"More than likely you'll scare them on, with as good as you look in those. No one will even glance at me."

Jack looked Daniel over. He was wearing a crisp charcoal gray suit with a blue silk shirt that matched his eyes. Forget bodyguarding as his first job. Jack's first job would be to beat off admirers of the lethal archeologist. The lethal, totally clueless archeologist. Daniel was deadly to Air Force libidos, and he had no idea at all of his effect on the susceptible. Unfortunately, in Jack's experience, everyone was susceptible to the younger man. Straight as a board, and clueless as well. It figures.

They took the elevator down to the lobby and went to the registration table first. The skinny goggly-eyed woman who manned the table couldn't stop staring at Jack. She stared, open-mouthed for so long that it started to get embarrassing, and the O'Neill Lipmeter was starting to thin towards irritation.

Daniel stepped forward. "Uh, excuse me, but we're here to register. I'm a speaker, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and this is my colleague, Colonel Jack O'Neill."

Hearing his name, the woman, whose name tag read Kathy Salong, PhD, guest coordinator, wrenched her head from Jack to look at him.

"Dr. Jackson! I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you. Welcome, sir, we are so glad you could make it!"

_Sure you didn't recognize him, since you were gaping at me like a guppy._ Jack signed in and took his pamphlet of conference materials as the guppy lady took control of Daniel and tried to lead him away.

_Unh, uh. No you don't. He ain't going nowhere without me._ "Uh, Daniel, we have to stick together for me to guard, remember?"

Daniel blushed. "Sorry Jack." He turned to Dr. Salong. "Colonel O'Neill isn't here as a linguistics professional only, Dr. Salong. He's here as my bodyguard as well. I've had a threat on my life by a terrorist group because of the work I've been doing for the Air Force."

"Really?" Round brown eyes turned to again stare at Jack. "What type of work have you been doing to rate a full Colonel as a bodyguard?"

It was Jack who answered. "We'd have to shoot you if we told you." He flashed her one of his thin-lipped smiles to let her know he was only kidding. Mostly.

The academician giggled, which looked distinctly odd coming from such a professional-looking woman. "I'll let the conference chairman know. I'm not sure what you'll do while Dr. Jackson is speaking, though."

"I'll manage. Thank you."

"Well then, Dr. Jackson, let's show you to the speakers' green room, and I'll introduce you, ah the two of you, to some of the other speakers."

The two men followed their hostess, but not before Daniel got in an aside to Jack. "Sheesh, O'Neill, I can't take you anywhere, can I?"

The older man shrugged with a small grin. "Must be the uniform. Chicks always did dig it."

_Not just chicks, judging by the way some of these geeks are staring at you like they want to eat you. Forget it! He's already spoken for, even if he has no idea of it._ Daniel thought, as he flashed a heavy glare at a young man who was staring a little too interestedly at the Colonel.

The moment had come. Daniel was finally going to meet the people who had come very close to ruining his academic career. Suddenly he was very thankful for the sturdy presence of Jack following him. _Why was Jack hanging behind like that, anyway, like a Japanese wife?_

_That suit really shows Daniel's best features off. The shirt matches the eyes, and the pants are snug enough to give a good view of the rear territories, as well._ Jack frowned suddenly as he caught a woman looking in the same direction his eyes were going. _Maybe they show them off too well. Don't even think about it, lady. You're out of your league, here._

"Here we are, gentlemen, the speakers' green room. Feel free to hang around here and get to know some of your colleagues again, Dr. Jackson."

"Uh, Jack?" Suddenly Daniel was terrified of going in there. He'd rather face a battalion of rampaging Jaffa than even one supercilious academic.

Jack moved close enough that his lips were almost touching Daniel's ear and whispered, "I'll be right here, big guy, and with you all the way."

With Jack's breath warm on his neck, Daniel relaxed and entered the room. He could handle anything as long as the Colonel was lending his quiet support. Hell, he had done practically everything with O'Neill behind him. What were a couple of repressed and pompous academics compared to saving the world on a regular basis?

Daniel took a quick breath for courage and walked into the speakers' break room with his head held high. To tell you the truth, he was terrified, and the only reason he was doing this instead of running back to the mountain as fast as his legs could carry him, was because of the old soldier that shadowed him. Jack had the courage of a lion, and could face an armed System Lord and sneer in his face. Daniel would not let his friend think he was a coward!

Unfortunately, the first person he saw was the last one the linguist would ever want to see again. Daniel stopped short, glancing around for something to duck behind so the academic didn't see him.

Jack's reflexes just kept him from running into his young friend, but the panic-filled tension that radiated from Daniel caused those same reflexes to force him to almost pull his piece and move towards the threat. Only the Colonel's knowledge of how angry and embarrassed Daniel would be if Jack acted prematurely kept his pistol inside his jacket holster.

The man who had panicked Daniel was a rotund middle-aged man whose hair had gone the way of his waistline long ago. He was stuffing his face with some type of vegetable dip, and had sour cream from previously consumed snacks smeared on his full lips and his ghastly-colored tie.

"Daniel?" Jack whispered as he pulled his friend back out the door.

The archeologist turned toward the Colonel and said just as quietly. "Yes?"

"Who is that guy, and why does he piss you off so much?"

"His name is David Salamanderin, and he's an old student of my Father's. He's always hated me, and has tried to sabotage my career from the beginning. He was one of the first to come gloating when I ruined it all."

Daniel's bitterness pulled at Jack's heart. "Daniel." His tone made the younger man look up at him and listen carefully. "You were right."

"I was, yes. But I can't tell anyone about it, or crow to anyone else about being right, Jack. So it doesn't do me much good right now, does it?"

Brown eyes caught blue ones and Jack said with his voice rough with caring, "You can crow to me, tonight."

Daniel's face flushed crimson. _Shit! Does he know how fucking hot that tone of voice makes me? He can't know. Straight as a fucking board, Daniel, remember! He'd only feel sorry for you, or feel uncomfortable with you afterwards._

Clearing his throat, Daniel said, "Uh, thanks Jack. I'm ready to go in."

Jack followed him as Daniel started walking past his old colleague.

"Daniel? Daniel Jackson?"

"Uh, hello David."

Full lips moved into a sneer. "I couldn't believe it when I read that they actually asked you to be one of the speakers at this thing. They must not be too worried about their own credibility." The muddy gray eyes peered out of folds of flesh at the younger man.

Jack wasn't going to stand by and let this slob insult Daniel. The kid was too nice to say what the guy deserved. Fortunately, Jack wasn't.

"I'm sorry, I must have misheard you. Did you say that you questioned Dr. Jackson's credibility? Why, you do know that he speaks twenty-three different languages, don't you, all fluently? How many do you speak?"

At the same time Jack attacked with words, he also got into the much shorter man's personal space big time. The Colonel did a great "out of control here" glower, and was putting it on big time for the pompous asshole who had insulted Daniel.

Daniel looked over Jack's blue shoulder at the shorter man. "David, this is my colleague and friend, Colonel Jack O'Neill, US Air Force Special Forces. How many languages do you speak now, by the way?"

The terrified man tore his eyes away from the menacing soldier and looked at Daniel, grateful to get a reprieve from the evil eyes of the military man. "I'm up to eight now. Sorry about being so hard on you, Daniel. It's just we never heard from you after that last talk you gave."

_Yah, you were one of the first ones to walk out, weren't you?_

"Yes, well, the Air Force grabbed me up and put me to work analyzing scrolls and artifacts from the middle east after the Gulf War. They've kept me busy ever since."

"But I'd had heard of any digs you ran."

"The digs Dr. Jackson have been working on are classified, and would not have made the academic gossip net."

"Yes, well, I'm so glad to hear your back. I've got to go now, bye."

Daniel and Jack exchanged grins as they watched the fat man waddle away at his top speed.

"Well. That was fun. Where's the next sucker?" O'Neill rocked back on his heels, pleased at the way it had gone down.

Daniel forced the smile off his face. "Now, Jack, you can't go scaring everyone who snubs me, everyone will think that that was why I brought you with me. I really need to handle the next one on my own." He patted his friend's shoulder, staying a few extra seconds to rub the thick uniform material. "So put Colonel Psycho back in your head, eh?"

Jack's lip pulled into a pout, something that he didn't do often. "Aw, shucks, Daniel, you're always spoiling my fun!"

The archeologist peeked at the Colonel in surprise, but was reassured when he saw the dark eyes were smiling. He smiled back, and said, "Okay, maybe later you can threaten someone else. Someone really annoying to me, of course. But until then, behave yourself."

"Yes, Dad."

At that moment a group of speakers came into the room and Daniel straightened his spine and turned to greet them.

Seeing that this group of geeks were at least making an attempt to be courteous to Daniel, Jack stayed back and looked them all over. The Ashrak could be any of these people. He'd have to ask Danny later if any of them were acting strangely. If he'd been the operative, he would pretend to be one of the hotel staff, the ones that wore those silly red uniforms. No one really looked at serving people in uniforms. No one except Daniel, that is. Daniel really saw everybody. It was that, more than his beauty, that drew both the evil and the good to him in droves. Because he really cared.

Daniel came over with a few of the geeks who were around his own age and introduced them to Jack, the pleasure at making this reacquaintance with his old colleagues shining from his face and those killer blue eyes. As his friend introduced the three others to Jack, the Colonel found he had a great deal of difficulty tearing his eyes from Daniel's happy face to look at his friends. 

_Damn, O'Neill, these kids are going to think you're a love-struck sap if you keep staring at Daniel. Good way to shorten the distance between you and a court-martial, letting people see you like this._

Right then Daniel caught Jack's eye, and surprised the Colonel by winking at him. Immediately Jack's lips thinned and his cheeks flushed with embarrassment at his friend's forwardness.

_Damn, Daniel's not helping any, winking at me like that. God it's good to see him happy, though. It's worth the risk just to see him get some of the attention he deserves from his colleagues._

The opening ceremonies actually passed fairly quick. There were several snubs and comments directed at Daniel, but between Jack's hovering glower and Daniel's quick tongue, most of the rude people kept their feelings to themselves or to their friends.

Later, after the two men had eaten dinner in the hotel restaurant and come back up to the room, they talked about the reception.

Jack was lying on the bed in his t-shirt and skivvies and drinking a beer from the minibar. Daniel was enjoying a glass of wine from the same source, lounging on the suite couch in a t-shirt and a ragged old pair of sweats that were so thin they were pretty useless for covering up much. Jack liked them just fine, and found his eyes straying over them more often than was seemly between two men. But damnit, Daniel could tempt a priest in those things! And Jack O'Neill was no priest.

"Daniel, you were the best linguist in your field, or at least one of the best. It's not surprising to me that most of your naysayers would be curious about what happened to you. And to find that you've been active the entire time, well, I'm really not that surprised."

"That was only the opening night skirmish, Jack. During the actual conference is where they'll bring out the big knives to put in my back. Still, it was nice to be a part of it again, if only for a few hours."

"Do you miss it, Daniel?"

Daniel caught Jack's eyes. "I admit that I do miss it at times, but I wouldn't trade all the tenured positions in the world for my position on SG-1. Those guys just look at dead civilizations and try to guess how they lived, and thought. I've seen many of those civilizations in the flesh, Jack, and I don't need to guess any more!"

The shining in the blue eyes caused a lump to lodge in Jack's throat. He cleared it, took a last swallow of his beer, then went to brush his teeth to get ready for bed.

"Well, I guess I'm going to hit the sack. I'm going to need all my strength tomorrow to terrify all those geeks."

Daniel did the same as Jack once the Colonel had finished his nightly ablutions, and followed his friend to the bed.

_Please don't let me hump on Jack in the middle of the night, I'd never live it down with him being as straight as a board!_

"Night, Jack."

"Night, Daniel." _Sheesh, this bed is really too damn big. I guess it's probably better this way, though, with Danny being as straight as a board. Hope I don't jump on him in my sleep. That could get tricky._

Before long, Jack heard Daniel's soft snores as the younger man, exhausted from the tensions of the day, fell fast asleep. He listened to the quiet exhales and reached out very gently with his fingers to touch his friend's arm affectionately. _Night, Danny. You're safe with me here._

The next morning when the alarm went off, Jack awoke to a feeling that he was wrapped in a net and tied down like he had been when he'd been caught in Iraq. 

The 'net' was Daniel, who had somehow migrated during the night over the huge expanse of the king-size bed and had wrapped his arms and legs around Jack as though he would never let go. The archeologist's morning wood was jutting noticeably into Jack's hip, and Daniel's thigh was putting some major friction on Jack's own privates. If the Colonel didn't have to go to the head so bad, he would have just stayed there and enjoyed the feeling. But Daniel's leg was heavy on his bladder! 

"Uh Daniel?"

No response.

"Daniel, wake up now."

Yep, that was a very audible groan coming from under the pillow covering the archeologist's head.

"I can't make coffee if you don't let me up, big guy."

Sleepy blue eyes came out from under the pillow to glare at the Colonel. Suddenly, like a light going on, sanity came into those eyes and Daniel started scrambling away from his stranglehold on Jack.

"Hey, Danny, it's okay. I just have to pee, or I wouldn't have wakened you up so suddenly.

Daniel groaned. "I managed to move over there last night, didn't I?"

"Uh, yahsureyoubetcha."

"Sorry, Jack. I'll sleep on the couch for the rest of the time."

This was pretty overreactive, even for Daniel. "You don't have to, Daniel. I really didn't mind you moving over. You do it in our tents often enough that it wasn't too surprising you'd do it in a real bed."

"Well, I'm uncomfortable with it. I..."

Daniel was avoiding Jack's eyes and staying as far away as the bed would let him.

_Fuck it. He sure didn't act straight the way he was rubbing me. Hmmm._

"Danny, let me put it another way. It's been a long time for both of us. I understand why you moved over to me in your sleep. You probably thought I was Shar'ee."

Now the blue eyes were fixed on Jack, making him swallow nervously. "You can't possibly be that naïve, Jack, to think I would ever mistake you for a woman, even in my sleep. I was asleep, but my body and my subconscious knew exactly who I was groping." 

Jack noticed that Daniel was shaking a little with nerves, so afraid was he that Jack would be mortally insulted at the archeologist's hints.

"Well, if I hadn't had to go to the head really bad, I would have considered some groping of my own. Even unconscious you know right where to grope a guy to make him feel good."

The shaking stopped as his friend's mouth dropped open in surprise. "I do? You were? But you're straight as a board, Jack."

Jack smiled. "I guess you don't know everything about me yet, do you Danny? I have been mostly straight for the last ten years or so. But I've had my fun when I was younger, with both women and the occasional man. Nothing serious, though. Just some light buddy-you know."

Now Daniel looked insulted. "Is that what you think I want, Jack? Some buddy-fucking from you?"

_Oh, oh, I could be in trouble here if I don't say the right thing._

"If I thought that was what you wanted, Daniel, you'd be out of luck. I don't do casual anymore. I'm too old for that stuff now. I learned my lesson when I got to be a hundred years old in a week, even though I'd been drugged then. If you had been serious, rather than just a sleepy old bear, I'd have been really tempted to take you up on your offer."

"You would? Do you think I'm, um, attractive, Jack?"

"Daniel, even a block of stone would think you were hot, and I ain't made of stone. But I wouldn't have tried anything on you 'cause I wouldn't want to risk our friendship and I thought you were as straight as a board. I value what we have, and you, too much to take the risk."

"But I want you too, Jack!" Daniel reddened. "I mean, damn it, I'm in love with you and have been for ages, you crazy flyboy! But I didn't want to risk what we had when I thought you were so straight. Shit, you mean we could have been together years ago, if one of us would have just done something!"

"Well, there is the small issue of my career being at stake, Danny."

"I know. That's the main reason I kept quiet. I didn't want to risk you getting in trouble over me."

"Don't you think that should have been my decision, Jackson? After all, it is my career."

"You... you're decision?"

"Yes. Commere, you crazy geek!" Jack lunged across the bed and ended up sprawled all over Daniel. Unfortunately, landing on his belly let him know that his bladder was very uncomfortable.

"Oof! I'm not running out on ya, kid, but I really got to take a leak before I burst."

"Oh, I guess I'd better go too. Let me know when you're done. I'm going to make some coffee."

"Gotcha."

Once they had refreshed themselves with coffee and the restroom, Jack and Daniel faced each other on the bed.

"Jack, you don't have to do this, just to stay my friend."

"I know I don't. Christ, Danny, what is it going to take for you to believe that I think you're hot?"

"Uh, you could kiss me, I guess, for a start."

"I can do that." Jack moved over the bed to where Daniel sat. He leaned forward and touched his lips to his archeologist's lightly.

"There. Now do you believe me?"

Daniel's answer was to jump the Colonel, drag him down on the bed, and kiss the hell out of him. By the time the linguist was finished kissing Jack, the Colonel was as hard as a rock and his lips were swollen from the force of Daniel's ardor.

"Wow. You know, we are going to miss your talk if we continue like this. You were scheduled the first thing this morning to talk about cuneforms, weren't you?"

Daniel looked at the clock, cursed, and jumped up to take a shower. "Gods, I only have a half hour before I'm supposed to give my first talk!" At the bathroom door, he stopped, turned, and looked down at his friend. "Don't think this is finished, Jack O'Neill. I will have you in my bed, be sure of that. Hell, you've been in my heart and my head for so long now, that coming to my bed won't be that big of stretch."

Jack grinned at the double entendre. "Let's share the shower, spacemonkey, so that I can be there guarding your ass until it's mine."

Needless to say, they almost didn't make it to the talk on time, but sheer willpower got them there with a minute to spare. After all, they had all the time in the world, now, Ashrak or no Ashrak.

"And so, my conclusion was that the Babylonians, the early Mycineans, and the Sumarians have a significant percentage of similarities in the most ancient forms of their cuniformic languages. What or who cross-pollinated to cause this root similarity, I'll leave for the archeologists to discover."

_Not too bad a reaction from the audience. Daniel's not exactly a hit, but at least most of them are listening._ Jack's brown eyes searched over and among the crowd automatically, as he had done since Daniel got up to speak forty minutes before. He stood at parade rest to the side of where the podium was set up, near the door. He was close enough to grab Daniel and get him out of the way in the case of danger, yet far enough away to give the young speaker an image of privacy. Ignoring the ache in his knees from standing so long, Jack let his eyes search the room without looking directly at anyone or anything. He'd learned this method of surveillance early on in his career, and it had saved his and his buddies' lives many times.

As the linguist took questions, Jack watched a hotel employee walk in with a filled pitcher of water. Nothing physical about the guy alarmed the Colonel, but that sixth sense that he'd developed over the many years screamed at him. Perhaps it was the fact that the pitcher near Daniel was still full, or the deliberate way the guy moved, whatever it was, he trusted his gut. Without hesitating, the special forces soldier moved to where Daniel was pouring a glass of the chilled ice water the guy had put down on the table with a smile of thanks at the server.

Jack put his hand out to stop his friend from drinking. "Daniel."

The linguist looked up at O'Neill's quiet voice.

In his ear, Jack said "Put that down, please."

"It's just water, Jack, and I'm thirsty."

"Now. I'm not kidding."

Two things happened at the same time. Daniel started to put the glass down undrunk, and the server's eyes flashed gold, and he pulled out some kind of weapon.

"GUN!"

O'Neill dove down on Daniel, dragging his friend down behind the podium and the speaker's table in the front of the room. At the same time he pulled his own gun, and with almost surgical precision, he shot the Ashrak through the neck, severing both the host and the symbiote's spinal columns with one bullet. The Ashrak was aiming his weapon at Jack, but he dropped it when he was hit and the deadly beam of light glanced harmlessly off of the roof.

Seeing that the danger had passed, Jack pulled Daniel up and got his encrypted cell phone out. The Colonel hit the quick dial for the SGC emergency line, and Hammond's voice came on the line.

"Sir, we need a clean up crew here ASAP. Yes, one did come after Daniel. I got him, General, but we've got to keep the police from the body. Right. He's fine, though it was a close call. I'll tell him." Jack smiled as he looked at Daniel for a second. "I expect that he'll want to stay for the rest of the conference. You know our linguist, Sir. Right. Bye."

Daniel looked around at the now empty room. "Well, at least this time there was a damn good reason they all left." The younger man rotated his shoulder, which had hit the floor hard when Jack had covered him with his own body. "Damnit, Jack, next time, just tell me to drop, okay? I can get out of the way as fast as the next guy."

"Great! I just saved your life, and your critiquing, Jackson? You are so going to be sorry for that later!" Jack turned around and glared at an unusually brave geek who was edging closer to the body. "Back off from there NOW!"

Daniel watched the guy scuttle away like a cockroach and glanced over at Jack. He could tell that the Colonel was enjoying himself immensely now that the danger to Daniel was over.

General Hammond somehow managed to get some Air Force personnel out to the hotel within the hour. Daniel soothed the conference leaders, and by the time the Air Force guys had debriefed them, he was ready for a break. Not to mention that he was starting to have a major post-attack jitters attack.

"Okay, kid, we can go now. D'ya want to go to our room for a little while and chill out?"

Suddenly, like a volcano exploding from deep within his belly, Daniel found he wanted Jack, bad.

"Um, yes, I'd like some privacy for a while, Jack. Let's go. Now."

"Okay."

Daniel's need built as they rode the elevator up to their floor, and it was all he could do to manage to keep his hands off of Jack until they closed the door to their room.

But once the door was closed, Daniel turned with the speed of an athlete, grabbed his Colonel by the lapels of his handsome jacket, and slammed his lips onto Jack's, his body pushing the older man's back against the door.

"Christ, Daniel! That hurt my head!"

"Shut up, Jack, and kiss me!" He took Jack's lips again, pushing his tongue inside the other man's mouth emphatically.

"Want to get rough, do you?" Jack snarled after ripping his mouth free of Daniel's punishing kiss. "I'll show you rough!"

O'Neill grabbed Daniel and threw him on the bed, then jumped on top of the winded archeologist. He ground down his hips against Danny's, feeling their erections rubbing together with their clothes as a barrier between them.

Daniel surprised the soldier by reversing their positions, and he growled at Jack's surprised look before he snatched the man's lips again.

Turned on by Daniel's aggression, Jack tightened his hold on his archeologist and felt his balls tightening as he came close to climaxing.

"Shit! I'm coming already, Danny!" Jack thrust his hips into Daniel's even more furiously, and when he came, he had to fight not to scream loud enough to bring the geeks up from downstairs to see what was making the noise.

His look of holding it in pushed Daniel over the edge and he came hard in his pants. Afterwards, Daniel just grasped Jack tightly like he was afraid the soldier would run away.

"Hey, loosen up, big guy. I'm not going anywhere, you know."

"I love you, Jack. Thank you for saving my life."

"It was my pleasure, Danny. I'm afraid I couldn't do without you now that I've found out we're both crooked boards."

The two lovers held on to each other tightly, finally knowing they were both exactly where they belonged.


End file.
